England’s preparations for their home T20 World Cup campaign have been thrown into chaos by the conflict in the Middle East, which has forced the cancellation of their intra-squad training camp in Abu Dhabi.
The side haven’t played since losing the semi-final of the 50-over World Cup in October, and have no international cricket scheduled until a bilateral series against New Zealand in May. The camp in Abu Dhabi was designed to be a competitive series between two largely separate squads, which would stay in different hotels and be coached by different staff. It would be the third of three training camps over the winter, with the previous two – also in the Middle East – having been smaller skills-based camps for players not involved in winter franchise tournaments.
The conflict in the Middle East and subsequent airspace closures have already significantly affected global cricket. In addition to the cancellation of the England Women's training camp, the remaining matches in England Lions' series against Pakistan was also cut short, with the Lions having been flown back to the UK. Zimbabwe and West Indies' departures from India after their T20 World Cup exits were also delayed.
“I don’t know if there is a plan to still do that [the training camp] for maybe a shorter amount of time in another country,” said England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, speaking at a launch event for the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup in Edgbaston. “I suppose I’m just waiting to hear the news really, and what they’ve been able to find. It’s also a very popular time to be going away for the English counties for men and women, so finding another venue will be a pretty hard task. But whatever we get, we’ll try to make the most of it.”
England’s preference for a winter training camp is a nod back to the blueprint which was used before their successful 2017 World Cup campaign under Mark Robinson. During their preparations for that tournament, England took a big squad of players to the UAE, where they played games against Ireland and age-group boys teams.
This winter is the first time England haven’t played an international series since the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. However, intra-squad training camps are being used more and more by teams as a substitute for bilateral series as franchise windows crowd out the international calendar. Both Australia and New Zealand put on playing camps during their winters last year, with Australia bridging an 11-month gap between their most recent T20I series against India last month, and their previous one against New Zealand in March 2025.
Equally, England played a bilateral series against South Africa in late 2024, only dropping one match through the seven-game three-format series, before going on to get whitewashed two months later in the Ashes Down-Under. The hope of the proposed intra-squad training camp was to create a competitive environment with roughly similarly matched squads going head-to-head.
Speaking to BBC Sport last month, England head coach Charlotte Edwards said: “We’re trying to create that competitive edge now to our players so that it’s not all done and dusted who’s in the team. I spoke to the players the other day about that. I said everyone in this room is in contention of playing at a World Cup. It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 or 35…
“I don’t want easy selections, I want it to be hard. I want people to be banging the door down and saying ‘you’ve got to pick me’ and that’s hopefully where we’ll get to come the end of Abu Dhabi.”
England’s options for rescheduling the camp at a different venue are limited. Venues in South Africa and Zimbabwe have already been largely booked out by county pre-season tours, with locations in Spain reportedly another option being looked into. Getting flights and separate hotels for a big squad of players and support staff at short notice will also be logistically challenging, with limited time also until the start of the domestic season in early April.
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Another option would be to host a smaller camp at Loughborough, although the competitive nature Edwards hoped to create would be compromised by slimming down the camp.
“There’s no two ways about it, the girls are going to be absolutely livid if they end up staying in Loughborough vs going to the UAE or South Africa,” said Lauren Winfield-Hill, speaking on the Wisden Women’s Cricket Weekly podcast. “The other thing is, conditions will be pretty hard in terms of trying to replicate match play whether that’s in the marquee or in the nets. I don’t know whether they’re ambitious that they can potentially get outside at that time. We have gone outside at that time of year before in Loughborough, but the kinds of surfaces you’re working with are very different to what you’re going to get in the T20 World Cup.”
Ultimately, England will still go into their first T20 World Cup on home soil for 17 years short on game time. They will play six scheduled T20Is before their tournament opener against Sri Lanka, plus warm-up fixtures which are yet to be announced. With the side having only played seven T20Is under Edwards’ leadership, the camp was a crucial opportunity both to fine-tune her selection plans, and deliver key messaging over a side which has lost two of their last three T20I series.
While the change to their preparation plans is beyond their control, it’s a blow to their build-up to a tournament where they will hope to emulate both their 2017 winners, and the Lionesses and Red Roses in lifting a major trophy on home turf.
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